Incidents and Statments involving LTTE: 2017

Date

Nature of incident

January 2

Mullaitivu District

Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneshwaran speaking during a discussion in Jaffna District said that no skills based training was provided to Ex-LTTE cadres during the reconciliation programmes.

Kilinochchi District

Four ex-LTTE cadres in the Tamil-majority Northern Province were arrested by the TID officials for plotting to assassinate TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran.

Kegalla District

President Maithripala Sirisena speaking as the Chief Guest at a ceremony at Ambepussa town in the Kegalla District said that the country will never forget the sacrifices made by the Security Forces and the Police during the country's three decade old LTTE war.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera told foreign correspondents that the Government will seek more time at the next UNHRC session to investigate war crime allegations against the LTTE which ended in 2009.

Former LTTE leader turned politician Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman launched a new political party to voice the concerns of minority Tamils in the North and East.

Colombo Additional Magistrate Aruni Atigalla ordered that a former LTTE cadre and three others arrested from the Bandaranaike International Airport when they were attempting to send a cap embossed with the official emblem of the LTTE be remanded till March 1.

President Maithripala Sirisena at a ceremony in Polonnaruwa District reiterated that there will be no foreign judges in the domestic mechanism which is to be established to probe the alleged war crimes and human right violations during the three-decade long conflict with LTTE.

A group of ex-LTTE cadres formed a new political party in Trincomalee District. The 'Rehabilitated United Liberation Tigers Front' was formed to get the issues faced by the minority Tamils addressed since the main stream political parties have failed.

Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said that LTTE weapons are falling into hands of criminal elements.

Gampaha District High Court ordered to further detain two LTTE cadres for bombing of a military aircraft in 2000 till March 21.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in Parliament that a group of Joint Opposition members joined hands with LTTE cadres to stage a protest against him while he was in Australia when the Deakin University conferred him with an honorary degree.

An ex-LTTE cadre and three others were arrested by the Police in Wellawaya town of Monaragala District in Uva Province on suspicion.

TNA Spokesman M A Sumanthiran speaking to the media following an event in Jaffna District insisted on foreign judges in the judicial mechanism to inquire into the human rights violations during the last stage of LTTE war.

Colombo High Court sentenced a LTTE suspect in Fort Railway Station bomb blast in 2008 that killed 16 people to 20-year-rigorous imprisonment.

The request to summon former Major General Shavendra Silva before the Court in connection with the disappearance of former LTTE leader Sinnathurai Sasitharan alias Elilan during the war period was rejected by the Mullaitivu Magistrate M. Samsudeen.

Skills Development and Vocational Development Training Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe at a press conference held at the Information Department auditorium in Colombo said that the Government would not allow any foreign tribunal or judge to inquire into the last phase of the LTTE war.

Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan addressing a ceremony to handover houses to people displaced due to the LTTE conflict in Vavuniya District said that issues of Tamils need quick solutions but if the Government fails in giving solutions the people will feel fed up with the Government as well.

Batticaloa District

ITAK party spokesman MA Sumanthiran at the party's central committee meeting held in Batticaloa said the party has decided to integrate rehabilitated LTTE cadres in to the party as part of a bid to give them the opportunity to involve in political affairs.

ITAK leader Mavai Senathirajah at a May Day rally held in Alayadivembu Dharmasangari playground in Ampara District said ITAK is willing to absorb the rehabilitated former LTTE cadres into mainstream politics.

Kilinochchi District

Former international wing leader and chief arms procurer of the LTTE Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP speaking to WION in an exclusive interview said that s a former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MG Ramachandran, known as MGR, provided money to buy the ships and weapons.

Colombo

Colombo High Court sentenced a woman for harboring a LTTE female suicide bomber who staged a suicide attack on the then Minister of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services and current President Maithripala Sirisena in 2008 at Boralesgamuwa.

Vavuniya District

Vavuniya High Court sentenced K. Dasan, a former cadre of LTTE for abducting and recruiting children to fight during the war, to life imprisonment.

IGP Pujith Jayasundare who is on a visit to Jaffna District said that the main suspect involved in the attack on two Police constables in Kopay was a former LTTE cadre.

IGP Pujith Jayasundera during a discussion in Jaffna District said terrorism had not been eliminated completely from the country and the attempts made by the LTTE to stage a comeback should be defeated at any cost.

Colombo

Army Commander Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanayake speaking to journalists at a media briefing in Colombo dismissed the fears that the former LTTE cadres, who are alleged of committing crimes in the North, are threat to national security.

Anuradhapura District

Three ex-LTTE carders held in remand at the Anuradhapura Prison commenced a hunger strike since morning urging authorities to expedite their court case.

Police recovered several posters left behind by intelligence unit of LTTE on the roadside close to Kurumankadu in Vavuniya District. The posters contained several statements saying it would keep an eye on the behavior of Tamil women attached to the LTTE intelligence units. The posters also said Tamil women should not interact with Sinhala men and added that they should be of good behavior.

Colombo High Court sentenced a LTTE cadre for life imprisonment for conspiring and abetting to explode a claymore mine targeting a commuter bus at the Piliyandala bus stand in 2008, which killed 26 people and injured scores.

TNA MP S. Sridharan allocated SLR 4 million out of his decentralized budget to renovate the Mahaviru Mausoleum where the bodies of dead LTTE members are buried in Kanakapuram in Kilinochchi District.

Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera said the economic crisis that began with the LTTE war in the early 1980s has affected Sri Lanka in various ways up to 2015.

Colombo

The Court of Appeal dismissed a Writ Petition filed by the Marxist party, JVP seeking an order to arrest and prosecute former LTTE leader Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP.